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House of Representatives votes to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol

John Fea   |  June 30, 2021

For some historical context on Confederate monuments check out our interview with Karen L. Cox in the latest episode of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast.

The vote was 285 to 120. This means that 120 Republicans wanted to keep Confederate monuments in the U.S. Capitol.

The bust of former Supreme Court chief justice Roger Taney, the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision, was also part of the bill. The bill proposes replacing Taney’s bust with Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice. In addition to the bust of Taney, the bill would remove the statues of John Calhoun, Charles Aycock, James Clarke and return them to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Arkansas, respectively.

Here is Savannah Behrmann and Ledyard King at USA Today:

“This sacred space, this temple of democracy has been defiled for too long. We ought not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honor that which defiles the principles for which we … stand,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on the House floor before the vote. “It’s time to remove those symbols of slavery, segregation and sedition from these halls.”

The bill passed by a vote of 285 to 120. Every Democrat present and 67 Republicans voted for it. The bill heads to the Senate for consideration, where itwould need 10 Republican senators to join every Democrat to pass the upper chamber. 

“This sacred space, this temple of democracy has been defiled for too long. We ought not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honor that which defiles the principles for which we … stand,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on the House floor before the vote. “It’s time to remove those symbols of slavery, segregation and sedition from these halls.”

The bill passed by a vote of 285 to 120. Every Democrat present and 67 Republicans voted for it. The bill heads to the Senate for consideration, where itwould need 10 Republican senators to join every Democrat to pass the upper chamber. 

The legislation would require states to remove and replace any statues honoring members of the Confederacy in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol by prohibiting “persons who served as an officer or voluntarily with the Confederate States of America or of the military forces or government of a State while the State was in rebellion against the United States” from the collection.

Read the entire piece here.

Why did so many Republicans vote against this bill?

Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin said he opposed the bill because Thurgood Marshall supported the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

Barry Loudermilk said he did not like the way the Democrats “skirt[ed] procedure.”

Kevin McCarthy voted for the bill, but pointed out that all of the former Confederates represented by the busts and statues removed were Democrats. This prompted Princeton historian Kevin Kruse to tweet:

With @GOPLeader noting he’s fine with removing Confederate statues from the US Capitol because they were “all Democrats,” perhaps he could speak with Southern Republicans who are still defending them at the state level, as detailed in this thread. https://t.co/99whHrwXUq

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) June 29, 2021

Dan Bishop and Ted Budd of North Carolina voted against the bill. But they were quick to endorse a Billy Graham statue:

The statue honoring Reverend @BillyGraham should’ve been put up long ago. North Carolinians deserve to see the finished work at the U.S. Capitol without further delay. https://t.co/GvQgydbvKY

— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) June 29, 2021

Tim Burchett of Tennessee voted against the bill. He called the passing of the bill “political gamesmanship” on the part of the Democrats:

Democrats refuse to do their jobs and vote for individual bills. pic.twitter.com/DXvNEl4xmM

— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) June 30, 2021

Tom Cole of Oklahoma voted against the bill, but said he was glad Congress was “moving in the right direction.”

Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee is not hiding behind “procedure”:

I voted against another leftist-led initiative to remove an additional batch of historical statues in Congress.

Attempting to erase our nation’s history is how we end up repeating it.

We must pay homage to the lessons we learned in the building of our great country.

— Scott DesJarlais (@DesJarlaisTN04) June 30, 2021

Byron Donalds of Florida voted against the bill and then went on Newsmax to talk about this:

We must win the discussion and take back our classrooms from liberals pushing their dangerous ideologies. America is NOT a racist country! RETWEET if you agree. pic.twitter.com/1vsk8WEtNE

— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) June 29, 2021

Vicky Hartzler of Missouri said the states should decide which monuments to send to the Capitol.

Jason Smith of Missouri voted against the bill:

Congress focusing on which statues to remove from the Capitol over how to get working class families back to work is another example of their skewed priorities. They focus on themselves rather than the Country.

— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) June 29, 2021

Michelle Fischbach voted no. She tweeted this yesterday:

The radical left’s movement to re-write American history has made its way to the National Archives, which they now deem racist.

They want to tell us what to think and how to think it. When will this madness end?https://t.co/iaDYZUBvWM

— Rep. Michelle Fischbach (@RepFischbach) June 28, 2021

Andy Biggs of Arizona voted no:

If we fail to remember history, we will be doomed to repeat it.

Check out the reason I voted no on H.R. 3005, the measure to remove certain statues from the Capitol Complex: pic.twitter.com/h8To0uF3nR

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) June 30, 2021

Is anyone surprised that Marjorie Taylor Greene voted “no?”

All the tyrants throughout history tear down statues and attempt to erase history in order to reign with an iron fist.

I’m opposed to HR 3005, the latest power grab by Democrats.

— Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) June 29, 2021

Thomas Massie of Kentucky:

I will vote NO on HR3005 because states have always been given the latitude to pick their own statues. This is another attempt by democrats to erase history, and ironically it’s their own history.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 29, 2021

Matt Rosendale of Montana issued a statement:

Most GOP members of Congress like to brag about their votes on Twitter. I was struck by how many of them were silent when it came to explaining this particular vote to their constituencies.

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Filed Under: Way of Improvement Tagged With: Confederacy, Confederate monuments, Congress, House of Representatives, John Calhoun, monuments, Roger Taney, U.S. Capitol

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